Superwoman #13 Review and **SPOILERS**

-->

Feels Good to Be Bad

Script: K. Perkins 

Pencils: Stephen Segovia 

Inks: Art Thibert 

Colors: Hi-Fi 

Letters: Josh Reed 

Cover Art: Ken Lashley & Hi-Fi

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: August 9, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Okay, so the way I see it, K. Perkins got the last arc of Superwoman, which would have been his first arc, to set things up for himself going forward. With this issue, we should be “going forward,” if you catch my drift. I didn’t hate the last few issues I reviewed, so I’m excited to see what this title holds! Join me, won’t you? Read my review of Superwoman #13, right now!

Explain It!

They say that you can’t go home again, and that’s true in a metaphorical sense. In a literal sense, it’s rarely true. Something that might bring the metaphorical together with the literal would be if you did go home again, and destroyed it utterly and horribly. Then, you’ll have gone home, but redefined the meaning of the word and made it so that you can’t return. That’s what Lana Lang has done, under the influence of a character I haven’t seen named Red Sun…who appears to be like a Metallo but powered by Red Kryptonite. Wait a second: Red Kryptonite? We’re using differently-colored types of Kryptonite again? Will Lana end up with Streaky the Supercat when her feline sniffs X-Kryptonite? Is Jimmy Olsen going to turn into a giant turtle-man again?! This Silver Age stuff, it’s Reggie bait, and it doesn’t end here. The issue begins with Smallville already in ruin, and Lana raging out with this Red Sun, while Super Luthor tries to put a lid on the situation. Seems Lex knows the fella that is Red Sun, and we’ll find out more thanks to a helpful flashback…

Back in Lana Lang’s high school days, her awkward best friend was Clark Kent. He was awkward, but so was their relationship because she’d told Clark she liked him, and he hadn’t reciprocated. But that doesn’t stop him from floating outside of Lana’s bedroom window just as she’s getting ready for school, which is as creepy as it sounds. At school, the town greaser Amos Aimes pulls into the parking lot on his sputtering motorcycle, to the jeers of young, red-haired Lex Luthor…now just hold on a second: Lex Luthor having grown up in Smallville is back, too? Maybe I’ve missed this point earlier, but I certainly don’t recall seeing his young interactions, and this is pure Silver Age sweetness. Lana makes a suggestion to Amos to help him fix his bike, and that makes Clark super jealous (another of his latent powers!) After some pretty sweet teen hijinks involving Lana, Lex, and Clark, Lana decides to ditch a detention she earned and go ride Amos’ bike—and also drive it, because she’s Lana Lang. While steering the thing, Lana hits a ditch and the bike flips over, but Clark rushes into the scene!

He saves Lana, and gives an X-Ray vision check to Amos to make sure he’s okay. Clark is pissed off that Lana would go do something so dangerous, and admits that he “like” likes her, too, but he’s too much of a chicken to do anything about it. So the girl that rides her own motorcycle, thank you very much, plants a wet one on Clark, getting close to him with a necklace given to her by her grandmother…one with a setting of Red Kryptonite. Lana believes that the Red K (oh how I thrill to write “Red K!”) is fueling her super powers, but Lex insists that it’s just an agent of change, and Amos is playing her. He pummels Lex for a bit, and insinuates that he isn’t even human. At the end, Supergirl shows up, and hopefully to get infected by the Red Kryptonite and be a werewolf or something for twenty-four hours!

Now that was a pretty good time! You throw out some of that multi-colored Kryptonite, though, and I’m all in. The art, with special regard to the coloring, was spectacular in this book, and the story was really engaging and exciting. I liked the look of Red Sun and the typical superhero beatdown stuff at the beginning and end, but I was really intrigued with the scenes of Young Clark Kent in Smallville, and the relationship dynamics and trappings it entailed. I could stand to see more of it! If you drifted away from this title a while ago, as I had, you might want to consider drifting back. This issue is good fun and a portent for some more enjoyable stuff to follow.

Bits and Pieces:

Lana goes home to Smallville and really tears it up! I mean she paints the town red, just sets the whole place ablaze! She's on fire, I tell ya! This issue was fun to read and worth your time if you're inclined towards the character. There's a flashback to her younger days in Smallville, and fans of pre-Crisis comics will probably be tickled by it. Nice job, all around!

7.5/10